Sen. Mark Warner

(D-Va.)

U.S. Senate

Honorary Board Member since 2010

Mark Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2008, and serves on the Senate's Banking, Budget, Commerce and Rules committees.

From 2002 to 2006, Senator Warner served as Governor of Virginia during its worst economic recession in 20 years. He worked in a bipartisan way to make state government more effective and affordable, and ultimately turned a record budget deficit into a surplus. He focused on improving public education and expanding economic opportunity, and brought 135,000 new jobs into Virginia during his four-year term. When Governor Warner left office in 2006, Virginia was recognized as the nation’s “best-managed state” and the “best state for business.”

Today, after just one year in Congress, Senator Warner is seen as a national leader in efforts to revive the economy by updating oversight of Wall Street, supporting our small businesses, and working in a bipartisan way to improve government performance and reduce the federal deficit.

As a member of the Banking Committee, Senator Warner has consistently worked to reach bipartisan consensus on updated regulations that will lead to more modern and effective oversight of banks and other providers of financial services. Senator Warner also is the lead sponsor of several bipartisan measures to increase accountability and establish independent oversight of the taxpayer investments made through the TARP bank bailout legislation that was enacted before he joined Congress.

On the Budget Committee, Senator Warner has been selected as chairman of a bipartisan task force that is evaluating the performance and effectiveness of federal agencies and programs. This bipartisan group of Senators will identify inefficiency and duplication -- and make recommendations about what works – and what doesn’t.

While serving as Virginia’s Governor, Senator Warner streamlined and improved services to Virginia’s 800,000 military veterans and their families, and that commitment to our veterans continues in Congress. Senator Warner successfully amended the AmeriCorps “Serve America Act” to identify ways for veterans to continue serving their communities once their military service ends. Senator Warner also launched a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of Veterans Administration services for our female veterans who have served so honorably in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senator Warner’s involvement in efforts to improve the health care system stretches back 20 years, including his role as co-founder of the nonprofit Virginia Health Care Foundation. As Governor, he administered a state Medicaid program and received national recognition for a significant turn-around in Virginia’s underperforming health insurance program for children. As a new member of the Senate, he organized and led more than a dozen of his freshman colleagues in successfully adding new tools to proposed health reform legislation that are designed to lower costs for consumers and businesses while also promoting broader innovation and greater transparency. Senator Warner’s amendments received bipartisan support, and the freshman package was endorsed by AARP, national consumer groups, independent experts and leading health care innovators.

Senator Warner was born in Indiana and raised in Connecticut. He was the first member of his family to graduate from college, earning an undergraduate degree from The George Washington University and a law degree from Harvard. He was an early leader in the cellular telephone industry, co-founding the company that eventually became Nextel and making early investments in hundreds of high-tech start-up companies that created thousands of jobs. As a philanthropist, Senator Warner has been a leader in his support of non-profit organizations that promote public schools and higher education, enhanced protection of our natural resources, and research into Alzheimer’s disease and juvenile diabetes.

Senator Warner, his wife Lisa, and their three daughters live in Alexandria, Virginia.